Survivor is back and is as Fresh as Ever

 Survivor is back and is as Fresh as Ever! by Roxanne McDonald

Some say it is the granddaddy of reality TV shows (though others point to Real World on MTV or to Big Brother as having started the genre, or accuse of popularizing it), and many associate it with ways they themselves survive in the non-island, non-bikinis and starvation life: that is, they say this show teaches them real life lessons.

 Survivor is back for its thirteenth season.  The first episode of season began Thursday, September 14, 2006, and brought with it more unique characteristics and characters.

This time, Survivor teams were chosen according to race.  So while all the sensitive and pc folks are bubbling and bitching, the reality of racial tension will be exploited to the nth degree.  Or will it?  Existing dominant features and skills will be exacerbated or highlighted.  Or will they?  Political, social, and commercial support will sway.  Or will it?

Ballsy move, Mark.  And clever, calling it a most unusual social experiment.

The four tribes began their journey on a clipper ship where captivating host Jeff Probst told the challengers they were to grab what they could and get off.  People grabbed what they could; Jonathan from the Caucasian tribe, Raro, stole a chicken from the Asian tribe, Puka, and the experiment began.

We met the individuals in each tribe (most of whom are gorgeous, built, charismatic, and if none of the above, then bring unique character to the show with histories of refugee flight or mad skills).

In the Latino / Latina tribe are Ozzy, Billy, Cristina, Cecilia, and JP.  In the Asian tribe are Cao Boi (pronounced, interestingly, “Cowboy”), Brad, Becky, Jenny, and Yul.  In the African-American tribe, Hiki, are (or were) Rebecca, Nate, Sekou, Sundra, and Stephanie.  And in the Caucasian tribe are (or were) Adam, Jonathan, Jessica, Candice, and Parvati.

With the exception of two who share friendship and therefore similarities, and save the skin tone and anthropological build, no tribal members look alike; almost all the names are, oddly, European in origin; and the fears and flirtations (which have, yes, begun already) are shared equally by all the tribes.

With the first challenge, which rendered a combination, three-part outcome, made little distinction between the skills or stereotyped attributes of ethnicities.  Having to put together a puzzle which formed a functional boat for each of them, the teams battled to paddle, scrambled to unscramble a second set of puzzle pieces which made up the four directions (N,W,E,S), and climbed as they built a ladder to the first winning spots.  The first three tribes to the top of the scaffolding were immune from that night’s first tribal council.  The first tribe also earned a fire-making kit.  The second and third, flint.  The losing tribe ended up having special power however, given the right to vote the first Survivor away to Exile Island (where it is hellish and yet promises a clue to the Immunity Idol.

So, who do you think, of all ethnic clans, would be first?  Aha.  Puka, the Asian tribe of South Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Hawaiian, won the first position, immunity, and a fire-making kit.  Aitu came in second; and Raro was third.

Coming in last, Hiki was destined for TC, but was also granted an interesting honor: the tribe was allowed to choose one member of any of the other three tribes to be ousted to exile Island.  The men of Hiki leapt at the decision, and made the white guy who stole the chicken from the Asians pay his karmic debt.  So before Sekou, who was more boss than toss, more jerk than work, it seems the fellow tribespersons agreed, got voted out, he and Nate chose Jonathan (of Raro) to go away to the small and desolate patch of land surrounded on all sides by water and exposed to the hard overhead sun.  The Caucasian curmudgeon was clearly not happy about his new fate, which was caused by what he claimed to be a hasty grab in the chaos on the ship.

So theories, demographic projections, or what have you of who steals and who is most agile, who is predetermined for stealth and wealth are all turned on their heads in this latest social experiment, one which promises to be an amped out version of the Manhattan Project or the Milgram Experiment … or even points to the complete assimilation of psyches, ala Zelig.

SirLinksAlot Survivor: Cook Islands Links

No Comments »

No comments yet.

| TrackBack URI
You can also bookmark this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.